The Danish Demes project utilizes DNA testing as a tool for genealogists
researching their Danish origins. Anyone who has a known (or virtually
certain) Danish ancestry on their patrilineal (direct male) line or
matrilineal (direct female) line is welcome to participate, provided they
are willing to share their test results and the lineage of their line.
(The sharing of results does not necessarily mean revealing one's identity
— please see discussion of privacy
as it relates to this project).
Danes were among the last in Europe to adopt surnames, and a great many of those adopted surnames were patronyms, the result of which has rendered joining a typical genealogical Y-DNA "surname project" rather meaningless for most male Danes. [Please see this page for a discussion of patronyms and their ramifications for DNA studies.] The Danish Demes project is intended to overcome this obstacle by providing a regional project where there would be a reasonable expectation of connecting to kin who, despite having different surnames, are genetically related, and where both males and females can participate. Because the regional criterion for membership is strict, the project will also produce a database of confidently Danish haplotypes as a standard against which those who only suspect a Danish ancestry can compare themselves. A larger project goal is to provide researchers of all kinds (e.g., geneticists, anthropologists, historians, etc.) with a reliable database of truly Danish individuals and haplotypes, with accompanying lineage information, that they can use in their research. This goal also requires the project be strict about members having a known Danish origin. The project is based at FamilyTreeDNA, but people tested elsewhere are welcome to join by sharing results and lineages, either unofficially or by officially transferring. If you are new to genetic testing for genealogical purposes, you are encouraged to read the "Introduction" and "Frequently Asked Questions" linked here: — Introduction to Genealogy and Genetics — FAQs — Understanding Y-DNA Test Results — As mentioned above, I am accepting results from individuals tested at other laboratories, but I do so with this caveat: although the industry is making every effort to standardize, different labs may produce different results for the same marker. How can this be? There are several reasons, but the simplest of them to explain is that, for example, a DNA segment may only be partially repeated (or partially lost), and while one lab may round the count up, another may round it down, and another may report the result as a decimal fraction. The important point is to not make too much over a difference in results between labs and to focus on comparisons made with people tested at the same lab, which is one reason most projects only admit members tested at the "home" lab where the project is based. What I would hope is that those of you tested at other labs will opt to purchase a Conversion Kit to bring your results into line with FamilyTreeDNA marker panels and standards because most project members have been (and presumably will continue to be) tested at FamilyTreeDNA. If you have not been tested, yet, and have any intention of joining Danish Demes, I strongly recommend being tested at FTDNA, so you won't end up having to be retested. (Individuals transferring in from the National Geographic Society's Genographic Project do not need to be re-tested because FTDNA is the testing lab for the NGS project.) |
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View
the Alternate Project Web Site at FamilyTreeDNA
This site includes distribution maps of member origins (for those members tested at FTNDA only). Family
Tree DNA FAQs
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Please do not request to join Danish Demes if you only suspect you have a Danish origin. I give the reasons for the stricture in FAQ #1. Also, please check FAQ #2 to be certain your Y-DNA or mtDNA test results would be eligible. |
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Anyone wishing to offer subsidies to encourage testing of specific lines may have their offer posted here (anonymously if you wish). Each donor is offering to subsidize only one test, so the early bird gets the test! • Your project administrator is offering to fully subsidize a 67-marker test for a patrilineal line male descendant of Carsten Anderson MATHIESEN (1824-1904) of Visby, Tønder Amt, DK — free test!For all subsidies, acceptance of the subject is at the discretion of the donor (i.e., upon the researcher's satisfaction that there is a valid paper connection between the test subject and the ancestor) and the test subject must agree to sign the Release to allow sharing of his test results. Please note that sharing of results does not mean sharing of identity. Only the project administrator, FamilyTreeDNA, and matching test subjects will necessarily know the identity of the test subject. |
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In recognition of the fact that some individuals may find the cost of DNA testing prohibitive and that these individuals may be the only representatives of key lines in our genealogical research, Family Tree DNA has instituted "General Funds" to allow researchers to subsidize the testing of these key individuals. The fund can also be used as a simple way to give someone a gift of DNA testing. Please see this link at Family Tree DNA for more details. And please consider a donation to the project as a way of bringing more lines into the project, especially to help some of our elder kin be tested who may not otherwise be able to afford it. There is also a field on the donation form allowing you to make a donation in honor of a specific person. The funds will be entirely collected and held by Family Tree DNA, but their dispursement is implemented by your project administrator. You can inform your project adminstrator whose test you want subsidized with your donation or, if you wish, you can leave it up to the project administrator to decide where the funds can best be applied. Please note that anonymous donations are not just anonymous to the public; they are also anonymous to the project admin. If you want the admin to know you made the donation and/or have a special request for how it is to be spent, please notify the admin by email at the time you make the donation. |
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Every-Name
Index to Family Group Sheets
Browse
the Family Group Sheets
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Census Hub: Native-Born Danes in the United States Censuses, 1850-1930 | |||
DANISH-DNA
Mailing List at RootsWeb
Anyone interested is welcome to join the list, whether a member of the DNA project, or not. Note that the above is a different list from these other Danish lists at RootsWeb
If you are seeking general information, I would recommend joining either
or both of these lists:
And for the gateway to genealogy web links, specifically DNA links, see Cyndi's List - DNA. |
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Geographical Note: As all records on this site are historical, the location names used here in the project are based on pre-1970 county (amt), district (herred), and parish (sogn) desginations, conforming wherever possible to the names supplied by these sources: the Krabsens Stednavnebase and DIS-Danmark Amt-Herred-Sogn. Countries are designated with a mixture of two-digit and three-digit ISO-codes (e.g., Denmark is either DK or DNK), so try both when searching. States of the U.S.A. follow the U.S. Postal Codes, and English counties follow the Chapman Codes. | |||
The project's Administrator is yours truly, Diana Gale MATTHIESEN. I'm Danish through my paternal great-grandparents, Andreas MATHIESEN of Visby, Tønder Amt, DK, 1886 immigrant to Oakland, California, USA, and his wife, Christine Mommine Jessine SØRENSEN of Ribe, Ribe Amt, DK, 1889 immigrant to Oakland, California, USA. My father and his half-brother are members of Danish Demes based on their patrilineal line, and they are Haplogroup R-1b1a-2a1a-1a4 (= R-L48). Christine left no daughters to pass on her mtDNA. I'm mtDNA Haplogroup T1a4 via my English matrilineal line, so I'm not actually a member of Danish Demes, myself. I'm a retired zoologist/paleontologist, and genealogy is my hobby. I'm a volunteer and receive no financial remuneration of any kind from Family Tree DNA. The expense of creating and maintaining this web site is borne entirely by me. I apologize for the advertising, but the site needs to cover the cost of keeping it online. |
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Privacy
Policy______
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